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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] b-hebrew Uncancellable meaning and Hebrew verbs

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  • From: David Kummerow <farmerjoeblo AT hotmail.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] b-hebrew Uncancellable meaning and Hebrew verbs
  • Date: Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:21:16 +1000


Hi James,

I've thought about this a little more and even the fastest action possible for a given animal may sometimes be acceptably referred to with "plod". Eg:

(1) The horse was plodding at a gallop.

In this example, the horse will be moving at maximum speed. "Plodding" refers to the sound of the movement, not the speed of the movement.

Regards,
David Kummerow.


Hi James,

Hi David,

I believe this has already been demonstrated to you. It's all a case of relativity. If we say somebody runs quickly we expect their run pace to be above average run pace. When we imagine somebody plodding quickly we expect the plod pace to be quicker than average but still somewhat slower than average walking pace. Your use of the word 'quickly' does not mean that the person was moving quickly. It just means that their plod pace was quicker than average.

James, I've already told you that the use in Australian English has no contextual relativity implied. Sure, "plod" has been chosen because the meaning of the word is suitable to designate "walking" vis-a-vis "running". But the use I'm referring to can also be used of running. Probably not sprinting, but running would be acceptable. The use has to with heaviness or sound, not slowness. And like I already stated, it is quite difficult to see how "slow" is the pure uncancellable semantics of the word in any case -- as if "plod" means "slow". It does not. It means "laborious walking" or "doing action indicated by adjunct phrase slowly" or "heavy walking".

Regards,
David Kummerow.






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